Plan B
by Michael224
Summary: Khan delays in sending Kirk back to the Enterprise. The consequences changes more than one person's course of action. Starts during Into Darkness.
1. Chapter 1

This is AU starting from the end of Into Darkness. An AU where the warp core wasn't misaligned, and where Khan did not send Kirk back to the Enterprise with Carol and Scotty after Spock sent over the torpedoes.

This is my first Star Trek fanfic and I'm more than a little worried about getting the characters right, most especially Khan and Spock but I've been wanting to write something on it so I figured I'd give it a try.

I don't own Star Trek

xxxxxxx

The laugh that escaped Jim when he realized just what was happening was belligerent and just a little incredulous. Spock….Spock had outsmarted the bastard, had used the only weakness Khan seemed to have against him. He offered Khan a smile.

"Looks like somebody screwed up," he called, in a sing song. The cracked ribs from the kick Khan delivered to his midsection a second later were worth it. For just a few seconds, through a haze of pain, he was a witness as the man completely lost it.

It was definitely a sight, and a marked difference from the cold calculation he had seen before. Jim wondered briefly, as the ship fell, if the bad landing they were about to make would get a chance to kill him.

And here he'd thought he'd seen the true extent of the man's wrath when he'd literally crushed Admiral Marcus' skull with his bare hands. Darkness was invading the edges of his vision but Jim pushed it back long enough to watch as that rage died just as quickly as it had started in Khan's eyes, as all emotion seem to drain from him and he returned to the cold, emotionless, being that Jim had met on the Klingon home world.

And that…_that _was a little more worrying. Even if Jim was pretty sure he wouldn't have to worry about it for long. Likely Khan would survive even this and Jim sorely hoped that Spock and his crew would later make him wish he hadn't but Jim was no super human, no matter the claims he had made to Bones on more than one occasion.

Jim's expectations of what was about to happen, namely a fiery death along with the ship, were not met when Khan grabbed him, picked him as if he weighed no more than a child and fled the ship with Jim in tow.

The darkness did come, invaded his vision not a minute later but not without a healthy dose of fear, and it was a good deal more potent than what he had felt when he'd thought he was going to go down with the ship.

xxxxxxxxxxx

_Sociopath. _

He had been called by the term on more than one occasion during his exceedingly long life. He supposed, at times, that it may have been warranted. He had told James Kirk once that he was better, and that had been the truth, and it included calculating his own emotions. He had become exceedingly good at doing so, at calling them forth when he wanted, ignoring them when he didn't.

Yet, the term _was _a false one, if only for his wrath.

He had felt it before in such degrees…namely when it involved his own crew. Such as the time when he had realized how thoroughly the vulcan had tricked him, used the only weakness he had ever put on display against him.

He was not an unintelligent man and his wrath, at the time, had been tempered only somewhat, and only after he had allowed himself to truly think, by the knowledge that the vulcan would not have had the fortitude to murder his crew in such a fashion, that he would not have armed the torpedoes if living beings were still resting inside of them.

However, the rage was still there and he was aware that the ship was going down, falling through the atmosphere. He had little time. He kept his feet even as the ship rocked dangerously and his expression twisted with the rage he felt as he stared down at the dazed and nearly unconscious form of the captain of the USS Enterprise.

The captain, who offered him up a smile and mocking words. He was not surprised at the action but he would admit to the fact that he had lost reign on his temper, if only briefly, afterwards. However, like most of them, this emotion was fleeting, and he was able to think clearly again not a minute later.

He was not an unintelligent man. He had seen what the captain meant to his crew, specifically to the first officer. He had not lost yet, not so long as he and his crew were still alive. He lifted the captain easily and made his way out.

xxxxxxxxxx

Leonard McCoy would never be able to count the amount of times he had been sure, and said so out loud, that Jim Kirk was going to drive him into an early grave. It wouldn't be from dragging him along on one of his damned adventures either. No, it'd be a time like this, where he was left behind on Enterprise while Jim dug his own grave.

He'd known how reckless the kid was after only two weeks of knowing him. Jim didn't need a starship to pull a stunt that would land himself injured. And Bones…because, _dammit, _that's who he'd been since he'd sat himself down on that transport next to the kid had been dreading the day when he wouldn't have the chance to fix the damage.

The hope that it wouldn't come was destroyed when he'd stopped just outside the destruction Marcus' ship had caused when it had crashed. The thought that _no one _would have been able to survive that crossed his mind.

He'd frozen at the edge of it, unlike Spock. Bones only had a few moments, a few moments to drown in his own sorrow before the vulcan was trying his best to kill himself as well, trying his best to rush into the damage.

He'd been one of the ones to hold Spock back. Not because he liked Spock anymore than he had since they'd first met. More because Jim would kill him if he let anything happen to the idiot vulcan he could stop.

It was only after he'd managed to hit Spock with one of the hypo's he'd loaded up with what he had hoped, at the time he'd prepared it, would take down Khan, it was only after that that he really let it hit him.

Losing Jim was losing family and he had very little of that.

He would be angry later. Angry at himself for losing hope when they don't find Jim's body in the wreckage. More than just angry at Khan after the theory that the madman is the reason for that. But the hope, however small it was, sparked again and it wouldn't go out again unless he had a body laid out before him.

xxxxxxx

It was not as if he had not wanted to understand.

He could admit to a certain degree of confusion in regard to his captain's recent actions. It was not an uncommon factor with regards to James Kirk. The captain had broken the first code of Starfleet when he had rose from the water to rescue him. Afterwards, he had proceeded in falsifying his report on the matter.

He had spent a great amount of time berating Jim for his recklessness, refusing to acknowledge what, as it had turned out, had been buried under all of that logic and reason all along.

It was a forceful realization, brought on through destruction and the flames of a falling starship. For the first time, in a blindingly painful flash of inspiration, Spock understood clearly why Jim had gone back for him in that volcano.

He had not allowed himself to think on it when he had still been on the bridge, had not allowed himself to think on what Khan's delay in sending Jim back would mean. They were exceedingly lucky that Khan had not attacked. -

The clarity of it drove all logic, all reason, from him. For several minutes, when he had made it to the outskirts of the destruction and had taken in the sight of the destroyed ship, he had lost _himself. _

_Family. _The word had held meaning before. It had held meaning when he had watched his mother fall, when he had seen the grief so clearly displayed in his father's eyes but he had never associated such a word to the man who had risked his very career to save Spock's life.

Until he had watched that starship fall, with his captain still inside.

It was what drove him forward. It was what had him fighting against the hands that tried to hold him back, heedless of the danger venturing into the destruction would entail. It took a hypospray loaded with a rather strong sedative to force the fight out of him.

But it was the clarity that would bring the rage later, that would have that wrath singing through him when he was informed that they had found neither Jim's or Khan's bodies in the destruction.

xxxxxxx

Had to edit this a bit because I'm an idiot and totally blanked on the fact that Scotty was there with Jim.


	2. Chapter 2

I edited the first chapter a bit because I'm an idiot and forgot about Scotty. I just mainly edited it so that Khan sent Scotty and Carol back to Enterprise but not Jim.

_xxxxxxxxx_

_The damage was immense. _

Although the recovery effort had ceased, there were still a great number of workers inside the destruction zone. The reconstruction would begin soon, perhaps even within the next few weeks. Some protested the action, some even milled around the barriers still, displaying their grief for fallen family or friends.

Spock stood perfectly still. Dressed in civilian attire, hands clasped firmly behind his back, he observed the scene with an unreadable expression on his face. There were no noticeably signs as to what he might be feeling save for the tightening of his hands when sensitive ears picked up the sounds of a woman sobbing in the distance.

It had been fourteen days since. Fourteen days since the destruction. Fourteen days since the disappearance of James Kirk.

The first days had been entirely too reminiscent of Nero's aftermath. Memorial's to not only the civilians that had lost their lives but to the Starfleet personnel as well who had died aboard Enterprise. Except for the panic that had occured of the knowledge that, unlike Nero, the perpetrator of this destruction had survived.

Spock felt much the same. He had lost something precious to Nero, and he had also to Khan. The anger that he felt at that very moment was not unfamiliar. It was the same sort of emotion that had caused him to, at one point in time; very nearly strangle the life from Jim Kirk. This time, however, he was certain that it was not misplaced.

"Thought I told you to sleep?" A gruff voice called from his right. Spock tilted his head, and only glanced briefly at Doctor McCoy. Spock's expression did not change at the sight of the doctor but he did study the man for that moment.

Spock had seen the physical changes that grief could wrought in humans. He could see it in the people who came to the barrier each day and he had seen it over the last fourteen days in his colleagues. Most especially in Doctor McCoy, who stood beside him weary with dark circles under his eyes.

"I do not require rest at this time," Spock finally stated, his tone without inflection. Truthfully, he had had trouble finding any form of rest over the last fourteen days.

"Bullshit," came the instant, and irritated, reply.

"While I appreciate the concern for my well being, doctor, by my estimation sleep is a requirement you have more need of."

"Bullshit," McCoy grumbled again. "Sleep is not what I require."

Spock inclined his head in agreement. "There are some in Starfleet who wish to declare them dead."

"Damned fools." There was real anger in that response.

Spock agreed silently. There had been nothing. No sign of either Khan or Kirk. The aftermath of Admiral Marcus' betrayal had been nearly catastrophic and there were some who simply did not want to believe Khan had survived.

It was easier for them to do so considering that Khan had made no further moves. Spock, however, had witnessed Khan's patience and determination. He had waited before and Spock was certain he would take action. The only emotion Khan had displayed in the time that Spock had been in close proximity had been directly related to his crew. Khan would come for them. Of that, Spock was certain.

There had been an argument amongst the remaining admiralty on what to do with the seventy two beings still frozen. In fact, the argument was ongoing. Spock only hoped that there would be no rash decision to execute. Without his crew, Khan's only goal would be vengeance and there would be no reason for him to keep Jim alive.

"Yeah, well, they're making their own beds. I'm just worried we're all gonna be the one to lie in it." McCoy walked away then, with a last, grumbled, "get some sleep." Spock remained still for several moments, however.

If Jim was still alive, they would find him. That was truly what Spock required.

Xxxxxxxxx

A little over six months after Bones had sat down in a transport next to Jim and introduced himself with what was probably an unhealthy amount of cynicism and bluster, Bones had gotten their room assignments changed.

Bones had never been known for his ability to socialize. He was a grumpy bastard. But the kid had latched onto him and decided, without much of Bones' input, that they were going to be friends.

_"We'll be _best_ friends."_Jim had said it high on painkillers after a fight had landed him in medical, eyes wide and half glazed over.

And Bones had snorted, shook his head. "_Guess no one else is gonna put up with you for that long." _

But it was more than that. Bones had never had a brother before but he was pretty sure that was what Jim had become. Of course, Jim never did anything easy and the change in room assignments had been a direct result from that.

Bones had made the decision after another incident of Jim hiding injuries and Bones had hoped that would be harder for Jim to do if they were sharing quarters. He did it to save himself too because he was thoroughly convinced that Jim was going to give him a heart attack one day.

The kid was definitely going to turn him prematurely grey. Sharing space with Jim had bled over after they'd been assigned. They'd fallen asleep in each other's quarters on Enterprise enough times, and Jim often made his way to Bones' apartment when they were on leave. Going fourteen days without Jim stumbling in and crashing on his couch was just another reminder.

"Leonard?"

Bones nearly jumped at the voice. He did drop the arm he'd draped across his eyes and stared up at the group of people from his couch. He hadn't even heard them come inside. Uhura stood over him, with Scotty, Chekov, and Sulu at her back.

"What're you all doing here? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" He asked, _grumpily, _as he sat up.

Uhura gave him a reproachful look. "Like you should be?"

"I say we all get piss drunk," Scotty spoke up before Bones could retort. He held up the bottles of booze he'd brought with him and Bones almost smiled. Yeah, he could go for that plan.

Xxxxxxxx

Much as it had been with meditation, Spock was having difficulties concentrating on the work he had set out for himself. It was not surprising. The work was not important, just an experiment he had set about starting before Khan had made himself known and one he had put aside after.

Nyota had asked him to accompany her to a gathering she intended on having but Spock had declined the offer. The gatherings generally consisted of great amounts of alcohol and nostalgic stories usually involving Jim.

Spock had attended many memorial services since joining Starfleet and the gatherings felt much the same to him, only with the added alcohol. He had only voiced this once, however, as they had gotten quiet and sullen afterwards.

Doctor McCoy had already inserted himself rather forcefully into Spock's life in the last weeks. He knew that McCoy was doing so on behalf of Jim-_the kid'll kill me if we get him back only to learn I'd let you fall sick-_and it caused an uncomfortable feeling to rise in his chest that he had, after some contemplation, realized was guilt.

The time he had spent berating Jim for breaking the prime directive to rescue him came back to him on those occasions, along with the realization that he would do the same to get Jim back now.

He sat very still for several minutes, trying to sort through these thoughts. Only the insistent beeping from the PADD on the table in front of him broke him from them, a beeping that indicated he had received a video message.

Spock opened the message and a moment later, found himself staring into the cold grey eyes of Khan.

Xxxxxxxxx

It was the entirely too loud buzzing from his door that roused Bones from the alcohol induced sleep he'd fallen into. The booze, along with recent events had caused a few twisted, and vivid, nightmares and he took a few seconds to shake those images away as well as contend with the pounding in his head and the nausea rolling in his gut.

The buzzing refused to leave though and Bones finally rolled off the couch to his feet, tried to straighten. There was a makeshift pallet on the floor in front of his couch where Uhura, Scotty, Chekov, and Sulu had all passed out. None of them woke at the nose or at Bones stumbling past them towards the door.

"Spock," Bones greeted when he opened the door and squinted at the Vulcan. "The hell are you doin' here?"

If Bones hadn't been so hungover, he might have noticed the Vulcan's unusually rigid posture, or the barely controlled quality of his voice when he spoke.

"Doctor. I have information that I wish to impart."

"So? Impart." Bones leaned against the door frame, waiting but Spock's expression only tightened further.

"I request that you wake them first and administer what you need to remain alert."

Bones stopped mid-yawn at that, and straightened, forgetting about his headache. "This important?"

"Yes." The one word, along with the almost frown on Spock's face was enough to bring Bones to full alert. The nausea increased but he told himself that Spock would show more of reaction if he had really bad news.

It took entirely too long to rouse everybody and get them in working order. But when Spock finally opened the video message he had received, it served better to sober them all up than any of Bones' hypos.

Bones stiffened, and his insides felt like they were freezing when Khan appeared on the screen, the same cold look in his eyes that he'd had when he'd been locked away in the brig on Enterprise.

"_Commander Spock, I'll keep this short. I am going to offer you a deal if, that is, you want your Captain back. The same deal I offered you before. Your crew for mine." _There was a pause and then, Bones breath caught when Jim came into view, held up by Khan's hand. Bones only half paid attention to the rest of the message, his trained eyes studying Jim's form, cataloguing his appearance.

"_You have seven days"- _No obvious sign of physical damage-"_After that"- _Eyes half lidded over like he was half asleep, skin unusually pale, lips cracked-"_I will kill your Captain_"-No signs of beatings but definite one's of dehydration and starvation-"_And I will move on to an alternate course of action that will include the destruction of Starfleet first and foremost."_

Khan offered up one humorless smile before the message ended. The six people in the room stood silent for a time afterwards before Bones finally broke the silence, some of what he was feeling, the anger mixed with worry, anguish, bleeding through in one word.

"Shit."

Spock set the PADD almost delicately on the kitchen counter. "Indeed."


	3. Chapter 3

There were no cracks in the ceiling. The white painted surface was as smooth as it had been for however long Jim had been in the room. He was having a hard time working out how long that had been or even how he'd gotten there. His thoughts felt muddled, and the ceaseless pounding in his head made it difficult to sort through them.

_Khan. _A humorless laughed escaped him. It was a dry, crackling, sound that burned his throat. He tried, briefly, to remember how long it took for dehydration to set in. That was, after all, most definitely what he was experiencing but, despite having suffered from it before, and having been on the receiving in on one of Bones' rants on the subject, he couldn't quite recall.

Seemed like Khan had forgotten about him, or something. He remembered, vaguely, being thrown into the room and he wondered why Khan had brought him with him only to leave him in a room to die of thirst.

Rolling onto his side, he pushed himself up on shaking arms but only managed to sit up. The hollow ache of hunger was familiar as well but not nearly as immediate a problem as the thirst was.

Still, he'd tried, already, to find a way out. The doorway was just as seamless as the walls, though. No windows but the artificial light hadn't dimmed once, making it even more difficult to tell how long he'd been in the room.

He moved, if a bit slowly, so that he could lean against the wall and drew his knees up to his chest, tried to remember how long it took for mild dehydration to turn into severe, and the difference in symptoms.

Jim rested his forehead against his knees and abandoned that line of thought, tried his best to ignore how dry his mouth felt, wondered if this was the only reason Khan had bothered to save him from the crash, so he'd die slow.

Bones was going to be pissed. Jim almost laughed again at the thought, could almost hear his best friend cursing in his ear. Bones had already saved his ass more than once. In more ways than just one too.

He wondered if anyone else would be looking, wondered, with Pike gone, would the rest of the admiralty just write him off. At least his crew wouldn't. He knew enough to know that. He'd pissed them all off on separate occasions but he was pretty sure that they all cared.

But Spock. If Spock got orders not to, would he look? And that thought hurt worse than it probably should have. It wasn't as if they had formed their epic friendship that the other Spock had told him about, that Jim had seen parts of in the old Vulcan's mind.

"_If Spock were here and I were there, what would he do?" _

_"He'd let you die." _

He tried to shake that thought away, the echo of Bones' voice, so sure of the words. He let his mind drift, and, after a while, he settled into an un-restful sleep.

Xxxxxxxx

He woke several times more, but each time, it became harder and harder to think. He'd fallen forward at some point, his forehead resting against the cool floor, but it did nothing for the pounding in his head.

When he was coherent enough to think about it, he was surprised at how short of a time it had taken to get to this point. But, maybe not. Maybe he'd been in the room longer than he'd thought. It was hard to tell, hard to remember.

_"Jim." _

The voice was insistent, demanding. It roused him from the stupor he'd been in. Jim blinked, surprised when he caught sight of who it was standing before him.

"Spock…" He managed to get the name out, his voice weak. Spock had his back turned, hands clasped. He turned slowly, surveying Jim with critical, dark eyes. He knelt, reached for him and Jim blinked as his form shifted as rough hands clasped at the base of his neck, pulling him upright and close.

"Captain." The voice changed, going deeper and Jim tried to recoil when Spock's face blurred into Khan's.

"I have need of you yet, Captain Kirk." Khan's grip was unrelenting. "I am sure you are aware of the dangers of dehydration. I do not wish to kill you yet."

Khan released Jim then, and he fell back again, rolling onto his side just as Khan left the room. There were two bottles on the floor before him, both equally large. Both filled with water.

Jim reached for them with shaking hands.

Xxxxxxxx

He would have thought the days were bleeding together if he had any sense of time in the unchanging room. The hollow ache in his stomach had started to veer from uncomfortable to painful at some point and he hadn't seen Khan since he'd brought the water.

He dozed fitfully on the floor, tried to ignore the shooting pain in his abdomen, tried to ignore the looming nightmares of a time when that pain had been a familiar constant.

Xxxxxxx

"Jim."

The voice was different then, but still recognizable. When Jim opened his eyes, Bones didn't waver the way that the rest of the room did.

"Hey, kid. You need to get up now."

"Tried, Bones," he mumbled reaching for his friend, even as his eyes slipped closed again. He'd done nothing but try for the first few days, before his head had started to pound so hard he hadn't been able to think, before his limbs had gotten so weak they'd barely held him up.

He'd tried everything he knew to get out. Would have fought Khan head on if the bastard had shown up when he could still stand on his own. Probably would have gotten his ass handed to him in about five seconds, but he would have done it anyway.

"The great James Kirk, giving up so easily?" The silky, lightly mocking voice was definitely not Bones'. Jim's eyes snapped open again and he tried, clumsily, to scramble back from Khan. He had to blink several times to bring Khan into focus, and to notice that there was someone else there in the room as well.

The other man was older and seemed to be a nervous wreck. Khan stepped away from Jim so that the unnamed man could take his place. He knelt, leaned close, reached for Jim. Already pressed against the wall, Jim couldn't back up any further.

There was an apology in the man's eyes as he grabbed a hold of Jim's head with both hands. Jim only had enough time to bring his own hands up, to attempt to dislodge the grip on his face when pain exploded inside his skull.

Something forced its way inside his head and he was hardly aware of it when he started screaming. It lasted only seconds, that agony, before darkness invaded his vision and Jim sank into it.


End file.
